WIPs and another Call for Entries

I had a busy weekend! It felt quite nice to finally be "back in the groove," as it were, doll-wise, after a kind of lengthy stalling out.

A few pics from some of the in progress pieces...




and the one for the Barbie exhibit I posted about earlier...



On a side note, I'm working on a special edition of my zine that's specific to art dolls. If anyone would like to contribute to it, what I need is 3 to 6 images of the largest size/highest quality possible, as well as any links to your sites/blogs/etc as well as any thoughts on dolls you may have. Why do you make them? What role do they play in our lives?

I'm looking at a late summer publication time, if you're interested, drop me an email! (info on my profile)

Bead Head Granny almost finished

More pictures of her hair and obi on my blog. All that is left now are her accessories.

More on Bead Head Granny doll

I have really enjoyed working on her. I have remade her hands completely - now poseable - finished her chemise then aged it with a tea bath and some paint, and put what I hope are the final details on the robe.More soon....

More on Bead Head Granny doll

The cloth beads and paper beads represent the fables she tells in her wanderings. This is her outer robe, and will have an obi style belt over, and a muslin chemise under. She will also be presented with a painted/appliqued cloth booklet telling her story.
If you look closely you can see my beading needle pushed in the sleeve.

Non-Etsy WIP

My friend Tricia Anders invited me to contribute a couple dolls for a window display at the gallery she works at...the theme is "It's raining dolls," and the dolls are supposed to use a black/white/gold color scheme. I didn't think I was going to be able to contribute because of the wacky work schedule, but thankfully there were some contractual difficulties, and I find mself with a bit of unexpected free time....yay!

Now I just have to figure out pricing...there's a couple of different things that play into it. One being the gallery taking 50% of final sale amount, and the other being that I'm not sure how much to up the prices because of the area. It's a relatively upper-scale area, where folks are willing to spend a bit more than they would on Etsy/elsewhere.

Step by Step: Completion

Once the plaster gauze dried, additional textural elements were added such as burlap and microbeads (the former was adhered with gel medium, the latter with Diamond Glaze) then the entire surface was treated with an iron surfacer and rusting agents.

After the rusting had completed (approximately 5 hrs) I lay down a thin wash of Pthalo blue over the majority of the body, followed by detailing with metallic acrylics and Twinkling H2O's for a patinaed effect.

Finally, I detailed the face a bit...I was going for a statuary effect, so I didn't want it hyper-detailed, and gold-leafed the headdress.

Finito!

Step by Step pt.2

Adding the robes and the crown. The robes are plaster gauze, which I'll add burlap and other textural elements to later on, and the crown is Aves epoxy with copper cut tacks.

Step by Step

I thought it might be fun to share a piece as it progresses from its base form to the final finished piece...although obviously the transformation has already begun. At this point I've lightly sanded the torso and applied a primer, as well as removed the back portion of the head and added a wooden egg which is secured in place with Celluclay and E6000, the wonder glue!

Barbie would be horrified.

Decision Time on a Work in Progress

I've been working on a few new designs for the fall shows so I don't bore the attendees with the same ol' same ol'. One new idea was to to do another fantasy creature such as a unicorn or pegasus, but that idea devolved into just a horse to keep things a bit simpler. A horse this tiny is hard enough.
The pattern now designed, debugged, sewn and stuffed turned out well enough and I was pleased with the dyed job - never a predictable thing. Now comes the decision I've been putting off. How to do the main and tail? Shall I use beads again, like all my previous ornaments? Shall I use some mohair yarn or maybe dye up some mohair locks? Or should I go through my art yarn stash?
Oh heck, I'm too tired right now, I'll put it off until another day.